A BEWDLEY man was left “feeling sick” after his double horse trailer worth £5,000 was stolen from his field on Dowles Road.

Geoffrey Allen, 62, of Woodthorpe Drive, reported the theft of the Ifor Williams horsebox to the police on Friday, August 8 and was so concerned the offenders would return to steal his animals he guarded them all night in his pick-up van.

The thieves, who struck sometime between 7am and 4pm on that day, had cut chains on both the field’s gates and the trailer itself to get away with the livestock product.

Mr Allen said: “It made me feel sick to be honest and I could not think straight.

“The thieves must have stopped the traffic to pull out of the field so I am hoping someone might have seen something that could help the police.

“I also lost saddles and a set of golf clubs which I had stored in the trailer.”

The engineering company director has two horses and competes in endurance events with them. In June he won the prestigious Man versus Horse Marathon event in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales.

West Mercia Police confirmed its officers were called to the incident at 5.27pm on Friday, August 8 and its investigations were ongoing.

Anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident number 584S of August 8 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Mr Allen is not the only person in the West Midlands to have been the victim of such a theft.

A recent survey by NFU Mutual revealed rural crime cost the region £4.5 million in 2013, with trailers the eighth most commonly targeted item by thieves.